When I contacted Turnkey Linux on the same issue, they said that I should talk with Amazon because reserved instance pricing is something that is implemented at your end.

Given all available facts it looks as if Amazon will honor reserved instance pricing if it is purchased through Turnkey Linux, but it has difficulty to do so when the reserved instance is pre-existing.

Is my understanding correct?

Is there really nothing that can be done about it either from your end or Turnkey Linux's? I hope I don't need to underline the uncomfortable situation I find myself in.

Thank you very much for your attention on this matter.

I will keep updating both sides on any developments, as I assume that if it was practical for you to talk to Amazon you would have already done so.

I think your request is a fair one. You're not asking for a refund, but a transfer - from a Windows reserved instance to a Linux one. I can understand that they won't refund it, but I think asking for a transfer to a Linux instance is not unreasonable (they still come out in front).

But for the record, I don't speak on behalf of TKL. I am very active here and after a few years experience with TKL, I know a thing or two about it. I work closely with the TKL core dev guys but I'm merely an active community member not a official TKL spokesman. So please don't take anything I say as gospel. For the final say on TKL matters (especially when it comes to Amazon and billing) you need to speak with Alon or Liraz.

You are absolutely right that I'm not asking for any kind of refund, I'm very happy with the service I get from both sides (Amazon and TKL). I see the present difficulty as merely a contractual detail that has managed to pass overlooked until now.

Amazon don't provide refunds for reserved instances (according to their documention). I don't know if its possible for them to transfer reserved instances either, but you can try (as you have).

Just to be clear, there is no difference when purchasing a reserved instance via the Hub or directly via Amazon. The Hub performs the purchase on your behalf via the Amazon EC2 API. The only difference is the Hub makes is simpler and less error prone so you get the reservation that is compatible with the TurnKey images.

One last note, I think what the Amazon rep was referring to when he said "purchased amazon machine images" is TurnKey's S3-backed images. In which case he was correct. Reserved instances are only supported on TurnKey's EBS-backed images.

Everything that anyone says on the forums eventually comes to our
attention though we can't always respond quickly. You don't have to make
any special requests.

Regarding your question:

To the best of my knowledge Amazon reserved instances are definitely
not transferable between instance types, regions or availability
zones. But I don't know about transferring a reserved instance
between operating systems. That might be possible though I doubt it.

Even if it makes logical sense (e.g., they come out ahead) that
doesn't mean their system supports it.

Reserved instances are a feature of Amazon's billing system, not
TurnKey's. We only support the feature to save our users money.
Amazon doesn't give us commissions on reserved instances or anything
like that.

Theoretically it's possible to reserve an instance without using the
Hub and have it apply, but reserved instances are specific to an
availability zone which is a specific physical datacenter in a
specific region. If you don't reserve through the Hub there's a good
chance you'll reserve an instance in the wrong availability zone and
TurnKey won't be able to use it.

Sounds a bit confusing? That's because it is. Some resources are
region specific, some resources are zone-specific, and if you need to
access a zone-specific resource in one zone from another you're in
for a world of pain.

Hub users that have never ventured into the Amazon CLI or web console
have probably never even heard of an "availability zone". Thats
because it is a frustrating anachronism of Amazon's cloud
infrastructure which we designed the Hub to magically hide from our
users.

I forgot to mention that I took care all instances to be in the same region & availability zone. Further, all instances are of the same size. So, the only difference is the platform (Windows vs Linux).

I'll post any new answer from Amazon in case anybody else is interested.

For DevPay products and paid AMIs, you always pay the price that the seller of the paid AMI or DevPay product specified.

Furthermore I have forwarded the Turnkey link that you provided for review.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

I still believe that, essentially, this is a simple matter to solve, even if it seems to imply a small change in the way Amazon's billing software currently works. However it looks as if it's not going to happen, so I'll leave it at that.

I too went through the reserve instance process, paid for it and found out from Amazon that DevPay products are not supported. I only signed up because I saw the tip in the TurnKey Hub monthly report. See below.

Tip: Pay up to 65% less in server usage fees

Cloud accounts > Actions > Reserve instance

Suggestion for TurnKey Hub - take this tip out of your emails because it completely mis leads your customers.

If you were lead to Reserved instances by TKL, then why didn't you just set it up through the Hub? I would've thought that if you are already using the Hub then you would've already realised that no AWS launched instances can be handled by the Hub and/or that it would make more sense to create your Reserved Instances in the Hub. Personally I would assume that existing reserved instances would not be able to be transferred in... It works fine if you purchase your Reserved intance through the Hub. As such it is not misleading at all I don't think, although maybe it should be something like "supports the creation of Reserved Instances - save up to 65%" so it was more obvious that it requires you to create new reserved instances through the Hub.

I used the link in the email from TKL to access the site to create the reserved instance. It took me to AWS. Where in TKL do I create it. I actually paid for it from the link and then later got my bill from TKL only to find out I didn't get the reserved instance price. I am new to TKL and completely a novice.